DOHA: Qatar’s foreign minister said Tuesday that demands put to Doha by Saudi Arabia and its allies in the Gulf diplomatic crisis were impossible to meet.
“The list is unrealistic and is not actionable,” Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani told reporters in Doha.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt — who accuse Qatar of supporting extremism — gave Doha an extra 48 hours to meet their demands after an initial 10-day deadline expired on Sunday.
These demands included Doha closing broadcaster Al-Jazeera as well as downgrading diplomatic ties with Iran.
Qatar officially handed its response to Kuwait on Monday, which is mediating in the dispute, but its contents have not been disclosed.
Sheikh Mohammed refused to give any further details on Tuesday, but said Doha was looking for a solution to the month-long crisis based on dialogue.
“The state of Qatar has adopted a very constructive attitude since the beginning of the crisis. We are tying to act mature and discuss the matter.”
Gabriel, who visited Saudi Arabia on Monday, said he saw signs emerging of a chance to involve “international bodies” in the discussions and to get all sides involved in the dispute around the negotiating table.
List of demands put to Qatar ‘unrealistic’: foreign minister
List of demands put to Qatar ‘unrealistic’: foreign minister
Iran’s foreign ministry: ‘Time has come to defend the homeland’ after US-Israeli strikes
DUBAI: Iran’s Foreign Ministry responded to a joint US-Israel attack on Saturday by saying that the country “will not hesitate” in its response to the strikes.
In a statement posted on X, the ministry said: “The time has come to defend the homeland and confront the enemy’s military assault.”
Iran said it will “respond decisively” after Israel and the United States launched strikes on the country despite talks underway on Tehran’s nuclear program.
“The Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will respond decisively to the aggressors,” a foreign ministry said in a statement, insisting Iran had done “everything necessary to prevent war.”
“Just as we were ready for negotiations, we are now more prepared than ever to defend the Iranian nation,” it said.
The US and Israel launched a major attack on targets across Iran on Saturday, and US President Donald Trump called on the Iranian people to “take over your government” — an extraordinary appeal that suggested the allies could be seeking to end of the country’s theocracy after decades of tensions.
The first strikes of the attack appeared to target the compound home to Iran’s 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in downtown Tehran. It wasn’t immediately clear if he was there at the time. Smoke could be seen rising from the Iranian capital.
“For 47 years, the Iranian regime has chanted Death to America and waged an unending campaign of bloodshed and mass murder, targeting the United States, our troops and the innocent people in many, many countries,” Trump said in a video posted on social media that sought to justify the attacks.
He urged Iranians to take cover during the strikes, but then: “When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take.”
